“If he is at the big-league level, he is going to have to,” Cashman said. “We have everyday guys at other positions. If he makes our club, it will be at a utility role.”

Previously, Cashman has indicated that the Yankees view Nunez as a shortstop, and last season they optioned Nunez to Triple-A specifically to have him play that position every day. During the Winter Meetings, after news broke about Alex Rodriguez’s hip injury, Cashman said he didn’t consider Nunez to be a realistic option to play third, but that came with a caveat.

“That doesn’t mean he won’t be an option,” Cashman said. “I’m just telling you what I think.”

So, basically, the Yankees believe Nunez’s best fit is at shortstop, and if he’s going to have an everyday role, it’s almost certainly going to come at that position. But if he’s not going to have an everyday role — and right now, there’s no everyday infield role available on the big league roster — Nunez is going to have to fall into some sort of utility role. At the very least he would probably have to backup at second base.

“At an everyday basis, he is a shortstop,” Cashman said. “If not, you could play him anywhere, except for catcher and first.”